Generex gets boost from JV news

MichaelBaron

NEW YORK (CBS.MW) - Shares of Generex Biotechnology jumped Thursday after the company inked a letter of intent to form a joint venture with South Korean venture capital firm Sejong Capital.

The stock
GNBT, +2.27%
leapt more than 9 percent to $1.67. Volume was more than 2.6 million, already more than 10 times the issue's daily average of 224,200.

Toronto-based Generex said the deal calls for Sejong to invest $25 million in the joint venture, and to purchase 2 million of the company's common shares at $2.50 each.

These funds would be paid to Generex as a non-refundable license fee for exclusive rights to commercialize the company's flagship products - the Oralin oral insulin spray and the RapidMist diabetes management system - in India, China, and Australia.

The venture will then market, distribute, and sell the Oralin spray in these countries.

"We welcome Sejong's investment in Oralin and this opportunity to expedite the clinical development and commercialization of our flagship product," said Anna Gluskin, the company's president and CEO, in a statement.

She continued: "The joint venture structure will allow us to continue to control and direct the further clinical and regulatory development of Oralin in these jurisdictions and to participate in commercialization revenues."

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